med cruise opera 8/06

:rolleyes:

hi

i m new to both message board and cruising-first time on opera-anyone cruised it lately? it will be a west med cruise leaving from my home that's Malta-tiny island in the med -guess some of u might have had a glimpse on another cruise-its being included in itineraries of major cruiseliners-last one in was voyager of the seas ...cool ship....higher than our bastions!!!!

would anyone advice on what a mum of two teenagers should wear on gala nights pls

thanx

Hi,

We sailed the Eastern Med on Opera last year, our first cruise also, we had a fantastic time. We're hooked on cruising now, we went to sail the Caribbean in April and we're sailing from Los Angeles next year!

We were a little worried that we'd feel "crowded", but no such thing, Opera's quite a spacious ship, there's plenty of areas to relax away from the crowds if you want to. They had teens stuff in the daily program, including an evening disco & games session.

Don't worry about the dress for formal nights, you dress up as much as

you like, or just go smart casual. Some wore full evening gown, dinner jackets, etc, others just normal dress or lounge suit.

If you use the search facility of here, you'll find lots of stuff about Opera.

Good Luck and enjoy.........

;)

thanx for the info! feel much better now!!! a lot of reviews on this site r not so positive regarding msc.....maybe being mediteranean might make it easier to undrestand certain practises!!!! any way ..leaving in 48 hrs..will come back with feedback:cool:

Hi first of all hope that you will have a great time and secondly if possable i am maltese too and going on the opera in mid september and its my first cruise too. If possable could you give me some tips after your holiday if possable]thans and regards

hi liverkop

just arrrived from cruise---we all had a great time-ship is lovely, crew fantastic and we r all depressed to have to come back home----u r lucky going in september as u wont have many italians on board-the ship was full of them and they r really loud rude and have no idea of queueing up for anything!!!! took tour to genova--others not really worth the money ---try going out on your own in montecarlo and civitavecchia and valencia---there is always afree shuttle out of port and buses good and cheap in all three ports--have fun and say hi to carmen the teen animator from my daughter and son pls..if u have any questions just email me and i ll answer

steph

hi there,

that was a quick respone happy that you had a good time.m Well I did not book any tours will go all alone. What about cloths do we need somthing special? Will be happy to have a word with you if you do not mind

Thanks and regards

Mark

hi mark

u will need a dark suit and tie for two gala nights-a cocktail dress for the ladies is enough. In the evening a lot of the passengers dressed up for dinner-smart trousers and shirts for the men and dresses or smart seperates for the ladies-the kids get around in casual wear but no flipflops or shorts. During the day we used to eat on deck so shorts and tshirts r ok but if u want to eat a la carte as well u have to put on a shirt and no flipflops.our seating was la caravalle u have a table and keep it for every evening-if u eat there at lunch u can sit at any table--i would suggest that u eat there for lunch or breakfast a couple of times.the waiters were great-ours were harvey and ashouk-two indian guys-really efficient and friendly---oh and get a couple of sweaters or a cover up as the a/c in ship bars and restaurants is pretty low!

if u have kids with you the animators are really cool-they have two clubs one for young children and one for teens---i didn't see my 2 teenagers the whole cruise-they r still crying in their rooms!!!!!

any more queries--just ask

steph

Just a warning about the shower......EXTREMELY SMALL. I am just an average size male and there is just enough room for you turn around. If you are on the heavy side, you will have a very difficult time.

Although I was on the Opera about a year ago and on a Caribbean Cruise, I did find the crowd on the older side and very few children onboard and they do cater mostly to a European clientele.

Food was good (not great) and the shows were not very entertaining.

There are too many other great ships and lines out there for me to not do another MCs cruise.

hi

shower didn'tbother me or my 6 ft husband-just dash in for a quick wash and out-most imp is that it was extremly clean-can't expect jacuzzi suites in a tiny cabin-can't compare as this was my first cruise.However there were a lot of italians who cruised costa and said that food on that line was much worse than opera. opera quite good esp. in evening-buffet is well a buffet!! i suffer from IBS and any bad food would send me rushing to the toilet-didn't have one problem on board--so i guess hygiene is ok. Maybe on caribbean line its different? I m Maltese -that's as close to italy u can get so maybe that's why i didn't find such a culture gap! kids loved the entertainers and the teenanimators are reallylovely!!!! we'll b trying the musica hopefully next year-opera calls in Malta every friday so no airfares r involved-we just go down theport and embark--no hassle a 20 minute drive from home-----sometimes small is really beautiful!!!

happy

opera cruising anyone going soon!